Crimson, Quakers Game to Watch

When Harvard and Penn kickoff tomorrow’s Ivy League football championship game, all eyes will be on one side of the field.

Informed fans and bleary-eyed, “Holy crap...How the hell did I end up sleeping in the bleachers at Harvard Stadium last night?” observers alike will know that the matchup to watch is the Quakers’ run defense versus the two-headed Crimson tailback monster of junior Gino Gordon and Treavor Scales.

At face value, it makes sense.

Penn, after all, has the best defense in the Ivy League—and maybe in the entire Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division 1-AA)—but is especially punishing against the run.

Gordon and Scales, on the other hand, have heeded the advice that Will Ferrell’s character in “Kicking and Screaming” gives to the diminutive Byong Sun and the oversized Ambrose—they have formed a “megaperson.”

The duo has combined for 937 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns this season, giving Harvard the best ground attack in the Ivies by far.

But while the clash of rushing titans rages on in the trenches during Harvard’s possessions, another, less heralded battle on the other side of the ball may very well turn into Waterloo in one of these squads’ campaigns to conquer the Ancient Eight.

I’m referring to the matchup between Crimson senior linebacker Jon Takamura and Penn quarterback Kyle Olson. In a game that might come down to which squad can marginalize its few weaknesses most effectively, each player will be charged with holding bubble gum to a leaky faucet just long enough for his team to pull away with a win.

Olson gets the nod against Harvard despite Quaker starter Keiffer Garton making his return from injury. Olson has been mostly uninspiring behind center this season, but he’s coming off a 238-yard, three-touchdown performance against Princeton.

Yes, I know it was the same Princeton that has been outscored 237-82 by its opponents this season, but Penn and its seventh-ranked passing game will take whatever sliver of optimism it can get at this point.

It has to, at any rate, because failure for Olson spells the return of a rusty and still-banged up Garton, and what that will look like is anyone’s guess.

But with Harvard’s run defense as good as anyone’s (besides the Quakers’), Penn’s only option will be to take to the skies. The Crimson’s pass D ranks just sixth in the Ivy League, and while its secondary remains intact, its front seven have been losing starters to injuries all season.

If Harvard hopes to contain the Quakers’ aerial assault, Takamura is the X Factor. If he’s on his game, he’ll torment Olson to no end with his versatility. Takamura’s as dangerous rushing the quarterback as he is defending the pass—he’s fifth in the Ivies with 3.5 sacks and second with three interceptions, including one he took back for a touchdown.

The 6’2, 220-pound Hawaiian’s ability to gets in Olson’s head will determine whether it will be Penn quarterbacks or Harvard corners doing most of the backpedaling tomorrow—and probably where the Ivy League title trophy will call home for the next year, too.

DARTMOUTH (2-6, 2-3 IVY) AT BROWN (5-3, 3-2 IVY)

A hearty congratulations to Dartmouth, which is gasping for air right now after emerging from the dank, suffocating cellar of the Ivy League. I must say, Big Green, I didn’t know you had it in you. The grit you showed in your double-overtime win against Cornell last week was certainly the hallmark of a team on the rise.

I look forward to seeing you next season, when, like this year’s Columbia team, you’ll jump out to a hot start, evoke uncontrollable shrieks of “Sleeper!” from the “experts,” and inevitably disappoint everyone who ever believed in you. I’m not bitter, Lions.

Also, does anyone realize that Brown is the only other good team in the Ivy League besides Harvard and Penn? Seriously, look at the records. Yale’s at .500 because it fills its nonconference schedule with creampuffs and everyone else is just awful.

Prediction: Brown 35, Dartmouth 14.

COLUMBIA (2-6, 1-4 IVY) AT CORNELL (2-6, 1-4 IVY)

Ah, the two teams who lost to Dartmouth now play in some kind of Bizarro championship game of ineptitude. At least Cornell has its men’s basketball team and Columbia, well, Columbia’s got Park Terrace Deli across the street from its sports complex. Fantastic sandwiches. If you’re watching a baseball doubleheader, head over in the seventh inning so you can avoid the between-game rush.

Prediction: Cornell 28, Columbia 24.

YALE (4-4, 2-3 IVY) AT PRINCETON (2-6, 1-4 IVY)

Remember how after Harvard started imposing all those draconian tailgate restrictions the Yalies started talking about how now Yale-Princeton was The Game? Yea, have fun at this one Elis. Your limitless kegs are going to come in handy.

Prediction: Yale 13, Princeton 6.

PENN (6-2, 5-0 IVY) AT HARVARD (6-2, 5-0 IVY)

Best. Game. Ever. If there were ever a time for junior quarterback Collier Winters to have a statement game, this would be it. Harvard’s run game might make a dent, but it won’t be anything close to the juggernaut it’s been in recent weeks. It’s your moment, Collier. A huge game from you and Chris Pizzotti ’08-’09 becomes a distant memory and you roll into the Yale Bowl a hero.

That would be nice to see, but this game is impossible to call with any semblance of confidence.

Prediction: Harvard 17, Penn 14.

LAST WEEK: 2-2

RECORD TO DATE: 27-17

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.